January

New Year, New Me.

“My piece is meant for the monthly prompt category, which could have been interpreted in different ways. The route I went with has changed because for the new year, I wanted to be a newer, better version of myself. As someone who feels like they don’t fit the binary, I’ve struggled with my gender identity a lot. It’s hard to feel right in my own skin and I’ve felt miserable sometimes due to this feeling of being out of place in the world. My piece is meant to be a symbolic version of this change of identity, which has the person in the drawing cutting their hair. The cutting of the hair represents them taking a step towards the change they want—the step I want to take to reaffirm my identity. This piece shows that I want to make the metaphoric move in feeling like my true self in the new year.”

A Fresh Start

“In this entry, I opened a veil that concealed the events that drowned humanity in despair. I wanted to show the cuts we were given as well as the band-aids we put on. In this entry, I reviewed the events of 2020 and how they impacted children like me. While 2020 was a rough year, it was also one where I bonded with people who felt the same kind of pain as me. I never talked about how I felt but working on this project has let me write out how I viewed these events and how I felt about it.”

Lost and Found

“I am currently incarcerated for 6-9 month, detached and lost with no family. I am currently in the system and stumbling from failure to failure. In my journey I am overcoming my obstacle and trying to become a stronger person with purpose. Because of this I my hopes for 2023 is to be released from camp and to get off probation. I want to complete school and I look forward to my bright and beautiful future.”

Metamorphosis

“My final semester of high school is underway, and graduation rapidly approaches. 2023 is the year I finally leave home and explore the world, through my higher education. 2022 was largely a year of comforts for me; still in the same town, with the same people, and the same routines that I have been living for the past several years. Leaving will bring discomfort, but I know that doing so will allow me to grow into my best self. Many of my peers feel the same way, especially those moving even further away. One of my best friends is planning on moving across the country for college, and despite the sorrow I feel in knowing we will be separated soon, I know that we are all moving on to bigger and better things. This sentiment of shedding old skin is portrayed in my painting through the fading of a high school varsity jacket. In the background, there is also symbolism. To the right, there is scenery from my hometown. To the left, which I am facing in this self-portrait, is the town of my dream college. I look forward to the new experiences that 2023 brings, and the optimistic glow of the painting reflects this. This year, my hope for myself and everyone around me is for us to grow and undergo our own personal metamorphosis into a better version of ourselves.”

My Hope for 2023: Belonging

“My film submission is titled “Belonging: My Hope for 2023.” As a teenager with muscular dystrophy, I know the isolation kids and teens can feel when they suffer from a disability. This is especially true in high school, when teenagers create new interests and friendships. In the film, I use photographs from my life to show that the disabled can be included as important members of their communities, giving hope to young people with disabilities. I end my film with a quote from Fred Rogers, one of my heroes, on the need for us to share responsibility for others. The narration was done using a voice created by my “eye gaze” computer.”

Catching my inspiration

“This project includes mixed media of photography of me in my catching gear, watercolor paints, and markers. I have played baseball since I was three years old. In 2019 my little league major baseball season was cut short, and I missed playing baseball and playing with my friends. When baseball started up again, I was not as good, and I was discouraged playing catcher. All I could do was hope for the new season and that I would improve. I found words that helped motivate me to keep trying and not give up hope of becoming better. This project includes encouraging words that have inspired me to stay motivated in baseball and school and continue trying harder.”

Molding Yourself

“We hand sculpted the clay into society’s perfect vision of a man and a woman. We struggle and fight to figure out our place in the world, but we shouldn’t shape ourselves based on the fear and expectation of what other’s want us to be.”

It’s Just Me

“In my painting, I want to express my hopes of finding myself this year. Looking back on 2022, I went through a lot of rough patches. During those hard times, I felt like I lost myself in multiple instances. Even though on the outside I looked fine, on the inside I felt empty almost like a void, never-ending sadness. So, with that thought in mind, I created this painting. I represented the feelings I felt during my rough patches. In the back, you will see bright colors. Those colors represent my favorite parts of myself. Even though I felt like a blue never-ending void, the best parts of me were still there in the background, waiting to be shown again.”

Hope for people to find their happy spot

“I chose to do this piece because I want people to find their happiness anywhere and for people to not be lonely. Also for people to find hope for what they are doing because some people might think it’s not fun but other people might think it is.”

Younger Now That I’m Older

“I had great difficulty thinking about what I hope for my future, what I really want to work towards. I thought over the course of a couple weeks to no avail. I began to reflect, to look back on my childhood and what made me special to myself, to see how much I’ve grown from things that seemed so much bigger when I was younger. What was interesting was how many things never changed in me, and once I realized that, I found my inspiration for this poem. This poem is about my hope for the new year being that I want to be who I’ve always been but with much more growth and maturity. It’s comforting to know that the special things about you as a kid never really leave you.”